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A string of championship titles have been defended; Newbee at DPL, Team Liquid at EPICENTER, and now Virtus Pro at The Summit 7. What sets VP apart from the others is the way that they defeated their opponents. Virtus Pro defended their title with 81 different hero picks, only picking previously played heroes during game 5 in the grand finals. With TI so close at hand VP’s decision to push themselves to the limits paid off massively. The win at The Summit surely removed any doubt of a deserved direct invite to TI7. The way they played through the tournament also sent a strong message to their competition, Virtus Pro will be extremely difficult to prepare for and they’re hitting their stride just as the tournament is beginning.

The Path They Took

The tournament began inauspiciously for VP. Their first round opponents were Team Empire and VP easily sent them to the lower bracket. Their second round opponent however would not be dealt with so easily. LGD had come into the tournament as a replacement for CDEC and showed VP they weren’t to be underestimated as LGD defeated them 2-1. It was then that VP realized they had not picked the same hero twice and decided to play a very risky game; see how far they could get without repicking heroes. VP then continued to push the limits against DC, deciding to let Abed have his Meepo, a first ban in every other game DC had played. The plow continued as VP took out DC, and followed by taking down NP in two straight games which set them up with a rematch against LGD in the lower bracket finals. With 50 heroes in a self-imposed ban VP turned to positioning items to outplay LGD and showed the true versatility the team has on a multitude of heroes.

Virtus Pro had made it to the finals with 60 unique heroes picked by the end of their 2-0 victory over LGD. Many wondered if they would be able to keep it up in a full best of five against Secret and we saw just how committed VP was in the first four games, picking 20 more unique heroes and bringing The Summit 7 to an all-deciding game 5. This is where VP broke rank and went for the win. Even then VP threw a curveball at Secret as the Sven they picked up in the first phase was a decoy for a 5th pick Anti-Mage (their 81st unique hero). Game 5 was a much slower pace than the four that came before it, both teams willing to let their cores test who could carry the game the later it went. While No[o]ne had some difficulties on Death Prophet, Ramzes more than made up for it on his Anti-Mage and ended the game with a rampage inside Secrets base.

Opposite of Epicenter

We could say Epicenter was meta-defining. Bristleback, Crystal Maiden, and Treant Protector stood out and consequently got hit by nerfs immediately following the conclusion of the event. Team Liquid and EG had a clear approach to how they wanted to play most of their games, be it through Suma1L’s Puck or Matumbaman’s Lone Druid and the Bristleback players on either side. Each team had bans clearly planned out to target specific players. Fast-forward to The Summit 7’s grand finals and we saw nothing of the sort. Virtus Pro had been winning with drafts we had seen come and go over the last few years of competitive Dota 2. Dazzle and Huskar, Shadow Demon and Luna, Bane and PotM. Instead of embracing the heroes that we thought were strong right now VP went out of their way to prove that they could indeed play anything and make it work. While Secret still favored Crystal Maiden and Sand King we saw a number of unorthodox picks from Puppey in response to what VP was doing. Virtus Pro’s free flowing drafts forced Secret to play reactionary, unsure of what could be awaiting them after each pick, unable to predict which bans would truly hinder the plow.

Consolation Prizes and Moving Forward

Team Secret should be satisfied with their 2nd place finish at The Summit 7. Disappointed surely, but after their last place finish at the Kiev Major at the hands of SG e-sports followed by another last place at the Manila Masters handed to them by NP, coming so close to winning an event should bring back some lost confidence as they head into the TI7 main qualifiers. LGD, on the other hand, has struggled outright to get to events. The Chinese qualifiers are always a mountain of their own to climb out of and for LGD the chance to replace CDEC might have been a godsend. Experiencing how teams play and adapt outside of China has given them a wealth of knowledge they can take back and use to try to get to TI7. For VG.J, rOtk will have to go back to the drawing board after failing to win a single game during the event. Only VP received a direct invite to TI7 out of the teams playing at The Summit 7, each of them will need to think back on what worked during this event and try to use that to their advantage if they want to get to Seattle.